Joan Jett
Riverbend 2014June 6-14 • 21st Century Waterfront, Chattanooga, TNView in depth coverage
Bonnaroo 2014June 12-15 • Manchester, TNView in depth coverage
For Paula Cannon, her love of Joan Jett coalesced one day in seventh grade. Onstage. In front of the entire school.
“Joan Jett and her ‘I Love Rock ‘n’ Roll’ would cause me to be some air-freak guitar-band girl with nothing but plastic black garbage bags pressed and taped skintight to my body in front of the whole school in a talent show as lead singer screaming ‘I love rock ‘n’ roll,'” she recalls. “That day, Bridgeport, Ala., knew who Paula Cannon was, and she found out herself!”
No doubt there are thousands of young girls who grabbed a hairbrush or air guitar and headed for the mirror when Jett was cranking out hits like the No. 1 “I Love Rock ‘n’ Roll,” “I Hate Myself for Loving You” and “Do You Wanna Touch” in the ’80s. Jett was the epitome of cool rock chick — guitar slung low, tight leather outfits, thousand-watt smile and an uncompromising yet approachable dedication to three-chords-and-a-cloud-of-dust rock.